Not So Daunting
by DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: Memories of the accident plague Draco and Charlie, but in the end, they wouldn't change a thing. Suddenly, things aren't so daunting.


**Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.**

**Beta'd by the amazing Michy :)**

**Written for The Hunger Games Competition, round 3. Prompts - Fire, Ecstatic, Divert, Romania Dragon Reserve, and the Dialogue.**

**Written for the Disney Character Competition Quasimodo (Someone deformed) Prompt - Wings**

**Not So Daunting**

Draco laughed, sending water flying at the redhead to divert his attention from the blush currently staining Draco's cheeks.

"You're a complete git, Charlie Weasley," he muttered, knowing even as he formed the words, that he didn't mean it. Turning away from the grumbling man, Draco let his eyes settle on the sunset just above the horizon.

The Dragon Reserve in Romania would have been his worst nightmare a year ago. In fact, when he arrived, he had sulked and moaned and bitched about every part of being there. Potter, goody too shoes Potter, it had been his suggestion that Draco do his community service at the Reserve.

Draco hated it.

Then Charlie had taken him under his wing, so to speak, and slowly, Draco looked forward to waking up in the mornings. A bond gradually formed between them, and with the bond came trust, respect and friendship.

Instead of being a stable hand, Draco was being taught about the dragons on the Reserve, how to look after them, when to stay away from them, and when to run for his life. The first time, Draco had been too late in realising the danger, and he was still surprised that he had escaped with his life.

That was the day he had kissed Charlie for the first time. That had been the day his life changed for the worse, and the better. That was around the time he learned that it's more important what's on the inside of a person than the shell that holds a person together.

_"Draco, look out!" Charlie screamed, seconds too late._

_Draco realised belatedly that it was too hot in the enclosure. Flames, everywhere, all around him, blocking him in. Fire, the deadliest weapon in the dragons' arsenal, was surrounding him, and it was spreading and multiplying even as it dawned on Draco that he was likely going to die in the next minute._

_Silence met Draco's ears, even as he knew that the dragon bearing down on him was roaring, its wings spread intimidatingly, and Charlie was probably shouting and screaming at him. His last moments on Earth were upon him. So many times he had thought about how he would die, especially during the War._

_This was not one of the options he had ever considered._

_Yet, Draco was not scared. Calmness had settled around him as he accepted his fate. This was his penance for his crimes and he would suffer it if it would make him feel whole again, complete in a way he hadn't felt since his sixth year at Hogwarts._

_Hands grabbed at him, and he vaguely wondered if hallucinations were a side effect of burning to death. But no, he was moving, he was being pulled upwards, away from the dragon that was still aiming fire at him._

_It was cold in the sky, he decided. Draco didn't understand what was happening, even as it registered that he had been pulled onto a broom, and was being flown to safety. Blackness threatened to take him in its arms, but he fought against it._

_He didn't want to die. Not yet. He had to tell Charlie first. Had to tell him that he was sorry. That he was sorry he hadn't moved in time. That he was sorry he had been such a jerk when he'd first arrived at the Reserve. That despite the red hair and general Weasley-ness about him, Draco loved him._

Arms surrounded Draco's waist, startling him out of the memory he had been reliving.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked softly, pressing his face into Draco's neck.

"I'm good. Are we done for the day?" Draco replied, raising a hand to rest on Charlie's cheek.

"We are. Come on, let's get something to eat and go to bed. I'm knackered."

Draco nodded in agreement as Charlie stood up straighter, offering his hand. Draco took it without hesitation and together, they walked to the hut they now shared.

A quiet dinner, followed by a shared shower, and they were both tucked up in bed. It was still early, barely nine in the evening, but dragon keeping was tough, and they had both been up since five that morning.

Charlie, despite his earlier confession of tiredness, couldn't sleep. Draco lay splayed across his chest, and Charlie was running a hand through the blonde hair. Occasionally, his fingers would brush against the rough skin that had been left over from the burns Draco had suffered just a few months ago.

Charlie still had nightmares about that day. He suspected they would always haunt him. If only he had been a little faster.

_Charlie flew overhead, watching the dragon shoot flames around the enclosure. Keeping one eye on the frozen Draco, Charlie dived, avoiding a shot of flames as he did so. He reached Draco as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. Even as he pulled Draco up in to his arms, he could see the damage already done to his face and neck._

_Keeping Draco in a tight grip, Charlie had flown out of the enclosure, leaving the other keepers to control the dragon, and taken Draco straight to the onsite medical unit. Dropping the broom as he landed, he had swept Draco up into a tight embrace and run into the hut where they were already preparing for their arrival._

_As requested, he placed Draco gently onto the flat table, and stood back against the wall so he wasn't in the way. Guilt coursed through him as he watched the healers work on the young man, who looked so small on the table. It was his fault. All his fault. He was the senior handler, he should have known. He should have reacted faster. He could have stopped this from happening,_

_Terrifying words like 'clear his airways' and 'permanent damage' floated back to Charlie, and he clenched his fists so tight his hands bled where his nails had dug into his palm. He didn't even feel it._

_The relief he felt when the healers told him that Draco would survive was unimaginable. A barrier inside him seemed to collapse as he slid down the wall, tears falling to his cheeks, his hands buried in his hair._

_After an indeterminable amount of time, he pulled himself back together enough to ask how long he would be kept in a healing sleep. An 'unknown length of time' was the vague reply, and Charlie pushed his anger down just long enough to leave the hut._

_He'd spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling above his bed, unable to sleep, wondering just what he would say, how he would apologise, when Draco finally woke up._

Charlie sighed as Draco shifted in his sleep. He stopped stroking the soft blonde hair to wrap his arms around the younger man tightly, waking him in the process.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked groggily, lifting his neck enough to look at Charlie, wincing slightly at the stretching of damaged skin.

"Sorry," Charlie said quietly, releasing the tight grip on the man in his arms. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Don't make me repeat the question," Draco grumbled. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No," Charlie replied. "I was just thinking about Christmas, actually."

"Huh?" Was Draco's none too intelligent reply, as he sat up in bed to look at Charlie properly. "We're going to The Burrow, aren't we?"

"Hmm, I don't know, I was thinking of telling mum I have to work."

Draco frowned. Was Charlie really so ashamed of Draco now that he didn't want to take him home anymore?

"She's not going to be happy about that. Your mum, I mean. What did you want to do instead?" He asked, raising an eyebrow delicately.

"I was thinking maybe we could go to Portugal. Or Italy. I know you said you'd like to visit them."

"Why Christmas though?"

"I thought it'd be a nice time to enjoy a honeymoon."

A honey- wait what? Draco frowned again. A honeymoon only happens after a -

"Charlie Weasley, did you just ask me to marry you?"

"What would you say if I did?"

"I'd say you need to ask me properly, you unromantic prat," Draco grumbled.

Charlie laughed, reaching over to his bedside table to take out the little box he had stored there.

"Draco Malfoy, I love you more than... I'm really not good with words. Look, I love you. I adore you. In fact, I worship the very ground you walk on. I'd give everything up to spend the rest of my life with you. Yes, even dragons," he added at the look Draco gave him. "I know we haven't been together for a long time, but I don't need any more time to know that I'll never love anyone the way I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Course I will," Draco sniffled, allowing Charlie to slide the ring from the box onto his finger. Flinging his arms around Charlie's neck, he pressed a long hard kiss to his lips.

"I love you," he whispered against the chapped lips.

"And I you," Charlie replied with a small smile. "Are you happy?"

"Ecstatic," replied a grinning Draco, the happiness inside threatening to make him explode. And he had imagined he could never have been happier than when Charlie visited him for the first time after he woke up from the burns.

_Draco had been awake for a little over an hour. A mirror lay face down on the blanket beside him, and he had yet to look at himself. How ghastly could it be? Did he even want to know? The healer had already explained that it wasn't going to get much better than it was now, so he should just look and get it over with, right?_

_But still the mirror lay beside him._

_A noise outside the hut startled him, but before he could pretend to be sleeping, Charlie had burst into the room._

_"Ian just told me you were awake! How are you feeling? Does it hurt a lot? I'm so, so sorry, Draco, truly, I'm sorry. I didn't, I mean I should have, I mean, I'm sorry. I really am."_

_Draco stopped Charlie babbling by leaning over to pull him closer and pressing a soft kiss to the lips he had been longing after for months._

_"Hush, Charlie. It wasn't your fault. I should have been paying more attention to what was going on around me," Draco said when he pulled away._

_He watched, his stomach in tingling with nerves, as Charlie stared at him, slowly raised a hand to his lips._

_"You kissed me."_

_Draco snorted in amusement. "Good observation."_

_"You kissed me. Why did you kiss me?"_

_"To shut you up," Draco snarked. "Because I wanted to, Charlie. Because I was scared that I wouldn't get to tell you I loved you before I died."_

_"You love me?" Charlie asked dazed, and Draco couldn't repress his sigh._

_"Yes, Charlie, I love you, though I did assume you had more intelligence than this. Do catch up, won't you?"_

_It was Charlie who snorted in amusement then. "Got some balls, you, don't ya," he muttered._

_"Yeah, well, when you look like this," Draco said, gesturing to his face, "you've got to have a strong personality."_

_Charlie glanced at the mirror still laying on the bed. "Have you even looked at it yet?"_

_Draco shook his head. "No, but it has to look hideous. I got burned by a dragon, Charlie. You have enough burns to know that they just don't heal well."_

_Charlie smiled gently. Holding a hand out for Draco to take, he sat down on the bed._

_"Well just so you know, I loved you before the burns, and they don't change anything. You're still the most stunning man I've ever seen."_

_When Draco scoffed in disbelief, Charlie frowned, squeezing the hand he was holding._

_"I mean it. With or without that burn, you are still the same person I trust, you are still the same person I respect, you are still the same person I class as my closest friend, and you are still the person I love. You are gorgeous. Inside and out."_

_Draco searched Charlie's eyes for the truth, looking for any hint of disgust, finding nothing but shining love. He allowed Charlie to press a gentle kiss to his head, before he dropped the hand he was holding._

_At Charlie's questioning look, he smiled._

_"Suddenly, this doesn't seem so daunting," he explained, before he picked up the mirror._


End file.
